The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
51°F
Current Conditions
Broken clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Conference tournament highlights: Tar Heels handle Cardinals

North Carolina's Marcus Paige and the Tar Heels defeated Louisville. (Associated Press)
North Carolina's Marcus Paige and the Tar Heels defeated Louisville. (Associated Press)

This time North Carolina didn’t fade during a tense second half, with the pressure mounting. And this time, the Tar Heels’ most important post players didn’t go missing when UNC most needed them.

In the ACC tournament, the Tar Heels were the stronger team down the stretch, the more efficient team, in a 70-60 victory against Louisville at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. The fourth-seeded Tar Heels advanced to the ACC tournament semifinals, where they’ll play top-seeded Virginia today.

Brice Johnson, the junior forward, led UNC with 22 points and fellow big man Kennedy Meeks, whose status was in doubt after he sat out UNC’s victory against Boston College on Wednesday while recovering from an illness, finished with nine points.

The victory brings an end to what had been a troubling trend of second-half collapses for the Tar Heels. That trend began in an overtime loss on Jan. 31 at Louisville, which erased an 18-point second-half deficit to win that game.

UNC also struggled in the second halves of losses against Virginia, N.C. State and Duke, twice. (3) Virginia 58, Florida State 44: Mike Tobey and Evan Nolte each scored 11 points and the Cavaliers (29-2) held on to beat the Seminoles (17-16) in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Malcolm Brodgon scored all 10 of his points in the second half for the top-seeded and defending tournament champion Cavaliers.

Xavier Rathan-Mayes had 13 points for Florida State.

(23) Georgetown 60, Creighton 55: D’Vauntes Smith Rivera scored 25 points, including 12 of Georgetown’s final 14 of the game, and the Hoyas (21-9) beat the Bluejays (14-19) in the quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden, in New York.

It is Georgetown’s first semifinal appearance since 2010. Georgetown has won the tournament seven times, tying former member Connecticut for the most titles.

(4) Villanova 84, Marquette 49: Big East Sixth Man of the Year Josh Hart scored 20 points off the bench, and the Wildcats (30-2) beat the Golden Eagles (13-19) in New York.

The Wildcats lost to Seton Hall in the quarters on a last-second shot last year. This one was over much earlier as Villanova made 17 of 29 3-point attempts to win its 13th straight.

Villanova will face fourth-seeded Providence in the semifinals today.

(16) Baylor 80, (18) West Virginia 70: Taurean Prince scored 18 points, Royce O’Neale added 16 and the Bears (24-8) pulled away to beat the Mountaineers (23-9) in the quarterfinals in Kansas City, Missouri.

Devin Williams had 18 points and seven rebounds for fifth-seeded West Virginia.

(9) Kansas 64, TCU 59: Kelly Oubre Jr. scored a career-high 25 points, Landen Lucas added 13 and the Jayhawks (25-7) beat the Horned Frogs (18-15) in Kansas City, Missouri.

With scoring leader Perry Ellis sidelined by a knee injury, top-seeded Kansas had to sweat out all 40 minutes against ninth-seeded TCU.